Pink Floyd To Play The Olympics Closing Ceremony

The Olympics Closing Ceremony rumor mill has run the gamut, with talk of many iconic British acts taking the stage for what’s being touted as a celebration of British music throughout the last 50 years. Many names have come up, but never has Pink Floyd’s – until now.

None of the band’s surviving members – Roger Waters, David Gilmour and Nick Mason – have discussed an Olympics gig, but emerging British singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran did this week. So what’s Sheeran’s role in all this? As he revealed in an Australian radio interview, he’ll be fronting an incarnation of Pink Floyd at the Closing Ceremony, alongside drummer Mason and possibly one other Floyd member. Sheeran said they will perform “Wish You Were Here,” a Pink Floyd classic and the title track off the band’s 1975 album.

Sheeran had previously mentioned that he would peform with a “big rock band” at the Olympics, inspiring rumors that he’d play with The Who, the only big rock band on the Closing Ceremony’s confirmed bill of performers. Sheeran added that Mason is the only Pink Floyd member confirmed to perform, but that “they’re trying to get someone else.” Waters happens to be available and performance-ready, as he just wrapped his epic The Wall Live tour – 2012’s most successful tour to date.

The challenge, of course, stems from the fact that Waters, Gilmour and Mason have been feuding over the band’s legacy since Waters quit in the mid 1980s. Yet, somehow, at 2005′s Live 8 benefit, Waters and Gilmour buried the hatchet and performed a four-song set. In 2011, Gilmour and Mason joined Waters on stage at a London date on his tour.

Acts confirmed to perform at the Closing Ceremony include George Michael, The Who, pop stars Jessie J and Taio Cruz, boybands Take That and One Direction. Those still rumored include Queen, the Spice Girls and Eurythmics’ frontwoman Annie Lennox. A soundtrack of the Closing Ceremony will be available digitally shortly after its broadcast on August 12th.